Experience Counts in Colonoscopy: Study

Related Encyclopedia • Adenocarcinoma of the Lung and Brain Metastases • Basal Cell Carcinoma • Bladder Cancer • Bone Cancer More... Related Healthscout Videos Zapping Vocal Tumors Keep Away Ovarian Cancer Breakthrough for Fatal Lung Disease Preventing Breast Cancer More... Related Animations • Breast Self-Exam Video • Colon Cancer More... Related Drug Information • Epogen • Iressa • Procrit • Topamax More... Related News Articles • Outcomes Similar for Laparoscopic, Open Colon Cancer Surgeries • Low Levels of Vitamin D Spell Trouble for Breast Cancer Patients • Partnerships Effective Communicators of Cancer Advances • Childhood Cancer Survivors Prone to Early Heart Trouble More...

Page:  << Prev | 1 | 2

"These data support the crucial role of chronic inflammation in the development of colorectal cancer," Chiu said. "We can use C-reactive protein as a biomarker to differentiate a higher-risk group from a lower-risk group," he added.

In a third presentation, Dr. K. P. Patel, from the gastroenterology unit at Hammersmith Hospital Campus, Imperial College Faculty of Medicine, London, reported that poor bowel preparation was the primary reason for failed colonoscopies among elderly patients -- not patient discomfort, as has been previously assumed.

Surveying the results of almost 2,000 colonoscopies, Patel's team found that 11.8 percent of patients under 75 had incomplete examinations. For those over 75, the rate of incomplete exams rose to 20.7 percent.

Text Continues Below

---

The main reason for the increased failure rate in the older patients was poor bowel preparation, which accounted for 42.5 percent of the unsuccessful exams. Before a colonoscopy, patients are required to fast and use laxatives to thoroughly clean the bowel.

Surprisingly, only 0.7 percent of colonoscopies in those over 75 were stopped due to discomfort, compared with 2.6 percent in the younger patients, Patel said.

"Contrary to popular belief, older patients tolerate the procedure better than younger patients," Patel said.

Dr. Berndt Birkner, a gastroenterologist from Munich, Germany, reported on the details of more than 145,000 colonoscopies. Two factors that made these procedures more successful include better bowel preparation and sedating patients, the researchers found.

"Our main message is that we have to control, and we have to secure, a good preparation for colonoscopy," Birkner said.

A final presentation compared the effectiveness of high-resolution colonoscopes with standard white light colonoscopes. Dr. R. M. Soetikno, and colleagues from Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., randomly assigned 240 patients to each procedure.

Soetikno's group found that the rate of missed cancers was the same whichever scope was used. The overall "miss rate" was 11 percent for tumors of any size and 3 percent for tumors 6 millimeters or larger.

"There was really no difference between the two arms of the study," Soetikno said "They were both the same."

More information

For more information on colon cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.

Page:  << Prev | 1 | 2